Enemy of My Enemy
Holding Cell This large cell is spartan, but the strangest thing about this cell is that the wall which should be facing the outside of the building is completely clear. The other walls are all solid, and there are very few amenities except for a pair of computer terminals against one wall. The bunks here are stacked in pairs, and there are about a half-dozen pairs. Refresher stations come out from one wall, but provide no privacy for the spray nozzles. Telal slowly opens his eyes, looking around the bunk room quitly. Dudly Perry is snoring quite loudly on the his bunk, sleeping soundly. Telal glances over at Dudly, shaking his head slowly, before dropping off his bunk, and checking on Lt Rushii. Dudly Perry the snoring quiets down, and finaly ceases. The body of Dudly goes from being still and peaceful to restless and figity. He appears to be waking up now. The world, "Heller" escaping his lips. Telal frowns, glancing back over to Dudly, mumbling to himself, "psycopath..", before turning back to continue checking on Rushii. Dudly Perry opens his eyes, yawning. He smacks his mouth a few times, turning to look around the room to see if anything had changed yet. He spots his old buddy looking on Rushii as if she were a badly injured medical patient. "She's fine...Trooper." Telal glances up, looking back to Dudly, shruggling slightly, "Has she actually stood up on her own yet?" Dudly Perry shrugs to Telal. "I don't know, I haven't seen her actualy up and moving yet, but she's well enough to insult out Hosts..." Telal chuckles lightly, "Why was she insulting our transparent friends?" Dudly Perry smirks, "Somthing about them being aliens, and we shouldn't consider them female and male because that would be comparing them to ourselves and, quote, 'why should we compare ouselves with the likes of a wamprat.' You can figure that one out." Telal laughs, shaking his head slowly, "Our Lieutenant has quite a mouth on her..." Dudly Perry smirks again. "I think, she's the one who'll almost get us killed now," he says, pointing at Rushii. "She grows impatient and is loosing her confidence in those in command." His gaze falls on Gerrin and Davis. "So, have you talked to our J'rathi friends recently?" Telal shakes his head slowly, "Not in the past couple of days. Why, you learn something new?" Dudly Perry leans back a little bit. "A little bit. Possibly things you already know. The fact they left the Republic durring the clone wars, and have been pretty much alone ever since..." Telal nods slowly, "Yeah, already knew about that... I also knew they have a few other humans here on the planet. Some left over from their break from the Republic... others having crash landed here like we did. That fact is the most worrying... if those people are still here, then they couldn't leave... which means neither can we." Dudly Perry smirks at Telal once more. "I do not think they were made to stay. The J'rathi, seem very paranoid, but I don't think they would make people stay." He turns to look in the direction of Heller. "But I do think, if its a choice of staying here, or calling the Imperials, we should stay." He turns back to Telal. "They would undoubtably attack this place. Which would be....very bad..." Telal frowns, watching Dudly, "Of course they would, and with good reason! They are creating ships that can blow our ships out of the sky. The empire cannot risk any more of those ships falling into Rebel hands." Dudly Perry shakes his head, turning back to look at Heller, " The Jedi and I, last night, explained the Empire to the J'rathi. They seemed to take it well." Then he frowns, " We also explained the Jedi...and the Storm Troopers," he turns back to Telal, "they didn't that it so well..." Telal turns and glares at Dudly, "Didn't take What so well?" Dudly Perry smirks, "Why the emperor would choose to have stormtroopers over Jedi, of course." Telal shakes his head slowly, "And just what did you tell them?" Dudly Perry leans back. "We simply told them that the Emperor chose Storm Troopers over Jedi even though its been proven Jedi are superior fighters in comparison to Troopers." He turns back, "They couldn't understand that..." You say, "Did you mention that there are almost no jedi left... and Millions of Stormtroopers? There were never that many jedi even back in the Republic, and the fact that it collapsed proved that they were not as capable as we are at keeping the peace." Dudly Perry seems to ignore Telal's response, but continues his previous thought. "And the proceded to explain why he did that." He pushes himself foreward and looks into Telal's eyes. "Hindesight is twenty-twenty." He gives that a moment to sink in. "The Jedi were betrayed by Palpatine. Thats why there are none left. Palpatine himself is Sith, the same as Lord Vader." He leans back against his pillow. "They both betrayed and murded many Jedi. Thats why there are none left..." Telal shakes his head slowly, looking back to Dudly, "I have no idea what a Sith is... and I have never heard that Palpatine killed the Jedi. The J'rathi spoke Highly of Palpatine... and you and that bitch Jedi go and send this entire planet right to the Rebellion." Dudly Perry sits up on his bed. "A Sith is a Jedi, a Dark Jedi." He looks over to Heller, then back to Telal. "The J'rathi spoke Highly of Palpatine because they lost contact with the Republic before Palpatine betrayed it." He leans foreward, laying on his stomach. "You never hear Palpatine killed the Jedi, because he controls your mind. I didn't beleive it at first, but the more I thought of it, the more it made sense." He moves his arm to gesture at all the troops around the room, "Why a two Jedi and a few droids could kill or capture an entire Corvette full of troopers." Telal sighs, "I don't know much about History, but I grew up on Coruscant, the former home of the Jedi Order. Now, if he had wiped out all the Jedi, don't you think people on Coruscant would know about it? More importantly, my parents, their parents, as far back as we can trace, our family has been on Coruscant. Yet noone in my family has heard of that, else they would have told the rest of us. As for how the Jedi was able to capture the Corvette, it was because we had not been trained on how to deal with a Jedi. Plus, they had already DESTROYED a Star Destroyer, there was no telling what kind of weapons they had access to." Dudly Perry shrugs. "Palpatine has can control their minds, like Heller did to you. And yes, people do know about it. The Rebellion has been growing, and I doubt they would risk there lives if they didn't know somthing." He leans back and turns his head towards the doorway. You say, "Then there was also a reason for the Old Republic to fall thru a Rebellion as well. Get your head out of the clouds you idiot! Are you trying to get all of us killed?" Dudly Perry turns his head to Telal. "Palpatine was the Rebellion. I know you want to reject this, and beleive me, I wish it were a lie too. Everyone has a reason to Rebell against those in power. And if he had control of their minds, well, you get the Idea. Give it some thought." He turns his head back to the doorway, perfect time it may seem. The door is open. There is little fanfare to herald the arrival of a now-familiar J'rathi, nothing to draw attention to it. Djalin simply enters the room. There is an extra J'rathi guard behind it, but the guard shifts in place the way they tend to, and says nothing. "Is there reason to kill you?" Djalin says, hearing the last part Telal and Dudly's conversation easily. Not that it understands fully. It sounds confused, and stands looking at the two humans. "Palpatine was Chancellor. Chancellor is leader. He was in power. Are there two Palpatine?" It brightens at this theory. Telal shakes his head slowly, watching Dudly, "If, as you say, Palpatine can mess with my mind, then who's to say Heller didn't do the same to you? You've seen these Jedi in action, do you really think two people could wipe out thousands of them? Of course not. Its merely more Jedi mind tricks. She's hiding a lie inside the truth. Instead of claiming she's the one messing with people's minds, which we KNOW she does, she shifts the blame to Palpatine?! I've never seen seen the Emperor or Lord Vador, and I doubt you have either. But we're supposed to believe that THEY are messing with our minds, instead of the Jedi that is right here?" he says, slightly winded from such a long statement, before looking back towards Djalin, "No, there is just one Palpatine. When the Republic fell apart, he managed to keep a core of it still alive, and reformed it into the Empire. It was obvious that the Republic's system of government didn't work, so he decided to hold power himself." Dudly Perry turns to look at Djalin, ignoring Telal for the time being. "I do not believe there is a reason to kill us." He narrows his eyes, trying to remember what might make the J'rathi believe there were two Palatine's. "You said that once," Djalin points out to Telal. "And the other, he just said Palpatine rebelled. Against those in power. But he was in power?" It sounds confused again. Hands drop to its sides, and the J'rathi takes a step back, recentering itself on the two humans. New topic. "What is this 'messing with your mind'? Is this what my colleauge saw? Where the woman shot drugs out of her eyes." Telal nods slowly, "Its a Jedi trick apparently. They give you a command, and you cannot disobey it." he says, shaking his head slightly, before looking at Djalin, "I actually have a question for you about something that happened upon the ship you built. At one point in time, the Rebels who held it lost control, and the ship entered hyperspace on its own. They could not pull out, change the path, or anything. It was at the end of this uncharted hyperspace jump that we were first attacked by the pirates, or whoever it was. What exactly caused this, some kind of fail safe? Or could the pirates have slices into the navcomputer on the ship and taken control?" Dudly Perry shakes his head. "Palpatine was not fully in power. I don't understand it fully myself," he points down to Heller, "Just what she has managed to fill me in on." He looks over to Telal, wishing he could use that power right now, or at least wake Heller up so she could. He decides to reanswer the question of the J'rathi that Telal has already attempted to. "The Jedi can use there powers to...suggest...you to stop doing what your doing. And it only works on some people." "A question best for my colleague," Djalin corrects. "Automated systems, new development for the /Protector/. Shipbuilder Bryn could explain, or I could try." It must mean the J'rathi of the frentic attention span. "It's both, at different points. Automated system running the ship. But it shouldn't stop, that was the pirates. Can't slice in hyperspace. They do have a device though, brings passing ships out of Hyperspace. That's why you stopped before J'rath. They wanted the /Protector/," it informs. The alien's area of expertise seems to offer light on the attack, more than the technology. Telal raises an eyebrow, glancing over at Dudly for a second, before looking back to Djalin, "Wait... you're saying the ship was trying to jump back to this planet, then was Forced out of hyperspace? What would make this ship return here automatically? Some kind of Anti Theft protection?" Dudly Perry raises his brow at the thought. He decides to stop his empire bashing for the moment, to hear what the J'rathi has to say. The J'rathi looks confused every time it looks towards Dudly. The 'Empire Bashing' must not be very clear. It looks over to Telal instead, responding with animation. "Yes, forced out of hyperspace. Wanted to steal the /Protector/. But the hyperdrive didn't engange because of them - you say the attack was after the ship took over, but before J'rath, yes? The ship had automated systems. They included J'rath's coordinates. Didn't work well yet. That's how we lost it. You have to ask the Shipbuilder for details." Telal nods slowly, scratching his chin, "One last question. You said there are other humans living here, do you suppose you might let us speak with some of them? Get some perspective on the situation..." Dudly Perry tilts his head, remember a question from the night before. "Oh, hey. Remember when I asked last night if your people could defend themselves from the kind of war the Clone Wars were," he pauses to let the J'rathi think. "You never answered me." Pauses to think are relative. The J'rathi's response doesn't seem to have any pauses, where a human might have to switch gears and think things through. "Yes, there are other humans. If they want to speak is their choice, I won't interfeer. Most came here to avoid other humans, focus on work. Not as fine as J'rathi, but we give them credit as engineers. I could ask, pass on the request?" It turns to Dudly to indicate the change in topic. "No. I protect J'rath. Why would I give out our military strength? You said the Empire might hurt us, you are Imperial. And I don't trust you." Telal nods slowly to the J'rathi, "Yes, please do pass on the request..." Dudly Perry slides of his bunk so he's standing near the J'rathi. Not to hard, since his bunk is the one nearest the front. "As I told you last nigh, I /WAS/ an Imperial. And I ask because I know the Imperials will hurt you. If you couldn't defend yourselves from that sort of war, then you would have no hope now. All the Imperials are going to know about you is that your ship blew up a one of theirs, that your weapons killed their men." He turns to look at where Rushii would be, then turns around towards the J'rathi. "You're an alien species to them. And as I'm sure the Jedi told you, they don't realy like aliens. If they find you, they are going to attack. There's no doubt about it. This is what the Jedi and myself were discussing when you came in last night. I know you don't trust me. I wouldn't either. But have you ever known a Jedi," gesturing towards Heller, "a real Jedi, to lie?" "I don't know Jedi," Djalin says. "I could say: I've never known an Ithorian to lie. Or a Quarren. Or a Sullustan. I don't know them." It takes a step away from where Dudly is looking. Something about that direction is associated with not liking aliens to the Imperial. "But it doesn't matter. Imperial or not, Jedi or not. How would telling you how much I can defend help me? I defend J'rath. This is all that matters. Why do you care how?" It raises its hands, folding them together in the direction Heller was sitting last night. "She said the Empire thinks you dead. It would not come after. Why do you say this now?" Telal shakes his head slowly, "The Empire thought us dead. Now, however, the remains of our ship have been cast into space, in a different location than that of our sister ship. The Empire will know we were taken somewhere, and will resume the hunt, as SOON as that ship is found." Dudly Perry nods his head at Djalin, and again at Telal. He then begins to speak in a slow and calm manner. "They Empire doesn't like to loose track of their ships. They all have tracking devices so the Imperials can locate them, so they can figure out what happened to it. Before your vessel blew up, our ships were...ejected...into space near here. Even if our ships blew up, along with yours, the tracking device would still be intact. The imperials will find it, and come to it. No doubt they would detect the presence of you. And then they will come, and they won't leave." He takes a deep breath. "I understand. Before now, I knew no Jedi as well. I don't know. If the empire comes and attacks, it would be our fault." He gestures to everyone here. "I want to help. I don't want to have to live the rest of my life, which probably won't be much longer, knowing I didn't at least try to help." "The /Protector/ was lost over J'rath. Not near Republic space, so not near the Empire?" It dosen't know where the Empire is, but Djalin doesn't seem to like what Telal says. And even less how Dudly justifies it. "Tracking devices have range. Even of J'rathi make. The Empire won't find us, not in The Nebula." It's facial muscles pull with tension, "We didn't take the ships. We didn't destroy any. We just lost one, and Rebels used it, not J'rathi... The Empire couldn't mind *us*." Telal nods slowly, "we know that. The Empire does not. They will see ships that have the firepower to destroy their own, will have scavanged the Liquidator and retrieved its computer core, so they will know what your ships look like. What they won't know, is that it had been stolen. As soon as they detect the same kind of ships in your posession, and will automatically assume you are part of the Rebellion." Dudly Perry shakes his head at Djalin. "They don't care. To them, you supplied the Rebels with the ships. To /them/ you guys are the same as the rebels. They will attack and justify it to their own people as you supplying them." He yawns. Although his heart is pumping because of all of this, he is still getting tired. "And I don't know how far we are from them." "Attack?" Djalin takes another step back. "Bad news, bad predictions. No J'rathi will want it, not a battle with many worlds. Not on J'rath. Doesn't matter if we can fight, they won't want to. Why do you say this?" It is a bit plaintive, but there is a canny tone to it. "The Nebula has hid us well, why bring fear? What does it accomplish? Do you just want us to act weak for the Empire, or do you have a purpose, a solution, a strategy to share, now that you tell me my planet is in danger." Telal shakes his head slowly, "We are not threatening your planet... merely advising you as to what will probably happen. If, however, you let us leave, we can report the truth on the situation, and not divulge the location of your planet." Dudly Perry jerks his head up to look at the J'rathi. "You say you have ships? Then go out and look for the remains of our ships. Find the tracking device before they do." He takes a deep breath. Turning back to his bunk. "And maybe, just maybe, it might be wise for us not to be here either." The J'rathi's huge eyes increase the curve of the lens, focusing immediately on Dudly. "Tell me the frequency." Djalin is intent on the one human, but still responds to Telal with a tactician's logic. "You are impressed with our technology. You say our ship could destroy your best. If we send you back, it must be in one of our ships, and it will raise questions. I want the answers to those questions before they are asked. Or not let them be raised." Telal nods slowly, watching the J'rathi, "You're telling me you don't have one standard shuttle left over from the Republic era? Something that is just a standard vehicle, one of a million standard ships..." Dudly Perry shakes his head. "I do not know the exact frequency, but it can't be too far from here. And you don't even need to do that. Send a ship to a planet on the outskirts of the empire. Let us leave from there. None of us know where this place is...so none of us can report it." He nods his head in the direction of Rushii. "The female officer overe there, would know the frequency." "Our engineers are enthusiastic," The J'rathi says, the apology for the situation overshadowed by the honor in its voice. "The ship would be old, still conspicuous. If one were left, unmodified. Much better, but still, questions." It shakes its head in a negative at Dudly, turning its focus to where the human nods. "Others would find out about our technology from you. I want that under our control, our choice." Telal shrugs slightly at the J'rathi's words, as he watches it, his eyes never leaving its form, "Its your choice. But I can guarantee you, eventually we will be found, and it would be better for you and your people if it was done under controlled circumstances." Dudly Perry crawls up onto his bunk, moving his covers to crawl under. "We know little of your technology. And little good it would do if we don't know where to find examples." He crawls under the blankets. "I do know though, that Jedi can be prety persuasive, maybe she could clear the minds of the Imperials of there memories here." He nods at Telal. "I am tired now, and have little more to offer. I have said what I needed. Good night." "Of course." Djalin says to Telal, eyes picking out Rushii where the burnt officer lies on a bunk. She knows about this tracking device? It continues to look that way as it responds in its stacatto voice. "That's the idea. Controlled circumstances. Stop the transmitter, stay hidden. Decide what circumstances those should be. What the answers to the questions are, before they're asked." It references its earlier comment, giving greater meaning. "J'rathi won't react well to fright, might do something rash. Not best in the long run. Not best for you even. I think... You said those things to rush us?" Telal shakes his head slowly, "Not to rush you, per se, but we fear the longer we stay here, the less likely we are to ever leave. We have families as well, and they deserve to know we still live." "Why less likely?" Djalin questions, finally turning away from Rushii and moving back out towards the door. Later, the officer isn't moving now. "What do you expect of the J'rathi? I'm curious. It reflects me, what you think." Telal shakes his head slowly, "Earlier you seemed to indicate that many of the humans here were stranded here... and don't forget. We had been held prisoner for two weeks before we ever met you. The time is beginning to wear us down... if we don't leave soon, control will be impossible to maintain over the men. Once that happens, there is no telling what will happen." "Stranded?" Djalin looks surprised, pausing by the door. "Never said that. Their choice, mostly engineers, designers. People who appreciate technology. I'll let them speak for themselves. You're not more restricted than them. They don't want to go." The J'rathi turns to leave, its clipped voice adding one last fact: "No one before survived, who didn't come to join us." Telal nods slowly as Djalin heads towards the door, "So if we can come up with a plan to leave, without giving out your technology and location, you will let us leave?" "All you want is to leave?" Djalin questions, not trusting that. "That is best, for a plan. As if you were never here. But... you are here, and it impacts things. You mentioned ship classes, the other night, that the Empire has. Many Shipbuilders were excited, wanted new inspiration. New technology to modify. They won't forget just because you leave. But other J'rathi were frightened, yesterday, by what the Jedi said. About the Empire. They want safety, and I must assure it. Before you came, I only worried about the pirates. Our 'rebels'," It parallels to explain further. "Now, we know the galaxy has changed. New things to defend from. New power out there." Telal glares at Djalin, "One of our commanders, lost his arm, another his site, and the Lieutenant is still bedridden due to her injuries", he says, lifting his hands, showing the burned skin upon them, "I worry that I shall ever be able to hold a blaster correctly again. All of these injuries occured while we were the prisoners of the Rebels. We just want to leave." "You suffered," The J'rathi accepts, shrinking back slightly from the injuries. "But you don't defend their accusations." A point that seems to interest it. "Don't hyperfocus now. Listen, and learn, while you're here. Don't let things pass, thinking only of home. You will see it again." Telal shakes his head, "I will... but the Lieutenant here probably won't. And Corporal Davis will never see anything again. And as for their accusations, I don't even konw what they are accusing us of. I merely follow the orders of the man who leads the galaxy." "You are away from his orders," Djalin points out on leaving. "What will you do without them?" Telal shakes his head, as he heads back towards his bunk, checking on the Lieutenant for a moment, before hopping up onto the bunk he had claimed, before looking back to Djalin, "I will follow orders. We have orders for every imaginable situation. When held prisoner, we are to return to the Empire at all costs. Kill anyone in our path." he says, his eyes narrowing upon Djalin, his malformed hands clenching into fists. Djalin is out the door, but it hears that parting comment. It must, because its reedy voice might be heard to say something that is obviously a response. "That doesn't reassure me." Category:Reach of the Empire Logs